Politics

Nicola Sturgeon says independence isn’t a “miracle cure” for Scotland’s economy, but claimed the country “can do so much better than this”. Closing the SNP’s annual party conference in Aberdeen, Scotland’s first minister said the economic case for independence will be published next Monday as she doubled down on her push for another referendum on

Liz Truss has handed a government job to a Rishi Sunak ally in a move that appears to signal her intention to bridge the divides in the Tory party. The prime minister appointed Greg Hands as a minister in the Department for International Trade, replacing Conor Burns who was sacked from his post following a

Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has warned restive Tory MPs that “dither or delay will end in defeat” as he appealed for unity just over a month after Liz Truss took office. Speaking to Sky News, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster stressed the need for party colleagues to “focus” on delivery or face being

Four cabinet ministers have urged their colleagues to rally behind Liz Truss or risk election defeat amid infighting in the Tory party. Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena have all written articles calling on the party to unite around the

On Thursday, the day after the end of the conference season, YouGov hosted a focus group with seven Blue Wall voters from around the South East exclusively for Sky News. Some natural Conservatives, some former Tony Blair supporters, all with one thing in common: each voted Tory in the 2019 general election. Now their votes

Liz Truss has “showed the world she is unfit to be prime minister” and is a “symptom of the Westminster dysfunction”, SNP’s deputy leader will say in his opening speech at the party conference. Keith Brown will accuse the prime minister of delivering “more chaos and confusion than even the most pessimistic prediction” when he

Liz Truss has sacked trade minister Conor Burns from her government “with immediate effect” following an allegation of serious misconduct. The Tory MP for Bournemouth West has also had the whip suspended while the complaint is investigated. A No 10 spokesman said: “Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the prime minister has asked Conor Burns

Labour has called for an investigation into the appointment of Liz Truss’s chief of staff, after it was revealed he was questioned as a witness in an FBI bribery inquiry and was initially being paid by Number 10 via his lobbying company. Mark Fullbrook refused to answer questions about the FBI investigation when tracked down

The Bank of England has confirmed it intervened to stabilise the pensions market following the chancellor’s mini-budget as multiple firms which schemes were reliant on faced the prospect of being wound up within hours. Responding to a letter from Treasury Select Committee chairman Mel Stride asking for greater clarity on why the Bank intervened at

The plane flying Liz Truss to meet the Queen at Balmoral for her appointment as prime minister a month ago was hit by turbulence in bad weather and struggled to land at Aberdeen airport. The aircraft’s helpless circling in mid-air was seen at the time as a bad omen for her premiership. And after a

Liz Truss vowed to “get Britain through the tempest” and insisted “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies in her keynote party conference speech during which she was heckled by climate activists. Addressing Conservative members at the event in Birmingham, as she battles to save her premiership, the prime minister acknowledged that

In power for just 28 days – and for 10 of them politics was paused following the death of the Queen – it has been the worst possible start for Liz Truss. A (mini) budget unveiling £45bn of tax cuts without a fiscal framework, precipitating a £65bn emergency bond buying programme by the Bank of

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has attacked Tory MPs who she claims “staged a coup” against the prime minister over her plan to scrap the 45p tax rate. Speaking at a Telegraph event at the Conservative Party conference, Ms Braverman said she had been “in favour” of the policy and was “disappointed” by the government’s U-turn.

A law allowing the deportation of illegal migrants and effectively banning them from claiming asylum could be introduced by the home secretary as she unveils plans for another “crack down” on Channel crossings. In her first major speech to the Conservative Party conference, Suella Braverman is expected to set out proposals for legislation that will

The first rule of U-turns, as a veteran former cabinet minister told me last week, is to do them quickly. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng decided late last night to cut their losses, both saying this morning that the policy of abolishing the 45p rate for those earning more than £150,000 had become a “distraction”.

A little under four weeks as prime minister and it couldn’t really have gone worse for Liz Truss. A mini-budget that precipitated a run on the pound (it has rallied a bit since), a £65bn emergency intervention by the Bank of England to prop up pension funds, and the withdrawal of nearly 1,000 mortgage deals

Kwasi Kwarteng is facing calls for an official inquiry following a report that he attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers following his mini-budget. The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the chancellor joined the gathering in Chelsea on 23 September and was said to have been “egged on” to pursue his plan of

Liz Truss and the Tories’ approval ratings have again plummeted in a fresh poll – as Labour jumped to a 19-point lead. The Opinium poll showed 55% of voters disapprove of the new prime minister and just 18% approve, which is worse than Boris Johnson’s final days in office. Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is no more

In his book on the failure of Ronald Reagan’s economic revolution, the US president’s one-time guru David Stockman wrote that the only thing worse than short-termism in politics is ideological hubris in government. The so-called “father of Reaganomics”, Stockman was a key part of an economic overhaul that has some eerie echoes of the current

Liz Truss has for the first time acknowledged that “there has been disruption” to the UK economy following last week’s mini budget. Since the chancellor’s announcement of £45bn in tax cuts the value of the pound has plummeted, nearly half of mortgages have been pulled and the Bank of England launched a £65bn bail-out to